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Hawthorne Works Blog Welcome
In addition to a website and Facebook page, now the Hawthorne Works Museum has blog! This space isn’t just for us, though, it’s for you, the reader and visitor, to comment and converse, as well as...
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Haymarket Bombing 1886
Today marks the 125th anniversary of the Haymarket Bombing here in Chicago. The image above, from Harper’s, is perhaps the best depiction associated with the affair that left eight police officers...
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Bell System Technical Journal
The Hawthorne Works facility was the manufacturing arm of the Western Electric Company during its lifespan. Originally producing a wide range of industrial and household products, Western Electric was...
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UNIVAC Turns 60
Courtesy of Wikipedia On June 14th, 1951, the US Census Bureau dedicated UNIVAC, or UNIversal Automatic Computer, the world’s first commercially produced electronic digital computer. In 1943 at the...
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Number One Crossbar Switch turns 75
The first 1XB was the PR7 exchange at Troy Avenue in Brooklyn, NY in 1937, one year after its development by Bell Laboratories. Before touch-tone dialing and microprocessor technology, the workhorse...
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The DEW Line
By the 1950s, Western Electric had proven repeatedly that it was an invaluable partner to the US military. Since World War I, WE engineers had developed and improved air/ground/sea communication, won...
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The Post Office and Hawthorne
Every so often a question comes the way of the archives: “What was the address of the Hawthorne Works?” The main administration/tower of the plant was on the corner of Cermak (22nd) and Cicero Ave,...
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Remembering the Eastland
This past Sunday, July 24th, a crowd gathered at the Chicago River (between LaSalle and Clark streets) to mark the 96th anniversary of the SS Eastland disaster. On May 6, 1903, the Jenks Ship Building...
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“Papa Bear” and the Hawthorne Works
The Bears are ready to embark on another bruising NFL season. Every Chicago sports fan knows the stellar history of their team, but did you know of the connection between Bears founder George Halas and...
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Al Capone, Cicero, and the Hawthorne Works
“When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” (from John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, 1962) For writers of fiction, Al Capone is a gift that keeps on giving. The public loves...
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Clarence Stoll and the Hawthorne Works Go to War
Clarence G. Stoll “Whether we are soldiers in uniform or soldiers of production, we are in the fight just the same. Every Western Electric employee is a Victory Producer.” So said Western Electric...
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Western Gates
The Hawthorne Works entrance gates in the 1960s (left) and today at St. James Sag Bridge Set in the woods and hills near Lemont, Illinois, St. James at Sag Bridge Church and Cemetery are well-known...
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Prchal’s Tower
Charles Prchal in 1978 A young man leaves his Bohemian birthplace for America in the early 20th century. He settles in Chicago, furthers his education at night school, finds employment at Western...
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Images of America: The Hawthorne Works
The Hawthorne Works, a history in text and photos, will be released in February 2014 as the latest title in Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series. Recall the time when Cicero, Illinois stood...
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Book Signing Event Friday, Feb. 28, 4PM
Author and Morton College Librarian Dennis Schlagheck will be on hand to sign copies and discuss “Images of America: Hawthorne Works” in the library cafe. Copies of the book are available in the...
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Upcoming Hawthorne Works Book Events
On Sunday, April 13 at 2pm, authors Dennis Schlagheck and Cathy Lantz will discuss their new book Images of America: Hawthorne Works at Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore, 7419 W. Madison Street in...
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Lewis Hine’s Images of the Hawthorne Works
Lewis W. Hine never intended to be a photographer. Born in Wisconsin in 1874, Hine trained to be an educator, but he found photography to be a more powerful force for social change. During his career,...
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Fifty Years Ago: The Picturephone
The smartphone in your pocket plays a familiar ringtone. You accept the call, and in a second you’re face to face with a close friend or loved one far away. It happens every minute of every day...
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Remembering Hawthorne Workers on Memorial Day
Over seven thousand employees of the Hawthorne Works served in the US armed forces in World War II. One hundred seventy-six gave their lives. The story of just one of these fallen soldiers illustrates...
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End of an Era
June 24, 1983 “MY FELLOW EMPLOYEES: As your general manager, it’s my responsibility to give you the sad news that the Hawthorne Works will be phased out of operation over the next few years. . . ....
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